Used cloth diapers seems to be a growing market. You can hundreds of
listings for used diapers on the
Diaper
Jungle forum or
DiaperSwappers in fact. This is great news for
cloth diapers users because it means you can recoup some of the
money you invested in diapers. Can disposable diaper users claim
that?
Below we have interviewed April Dawn
of That Fat Baby, a leading
cloth diaper consignment store. She gives us some insight into the
world of cloth diaper resales and consignment and gives some diaper
resale tips.
Interview:
DJ: Is there a viable market
for “used” cloth diapers? If so, why?
TFB:
Definitely! Many
mothers new to cloth diapering worry about buying a "stash" of brand
new diapers only to find many don't work for their child. It's more
economical to buy a variety of used diapers to find what works best
with their child.
DJ: What
types of diapers have the best resale value?
TFB:
Fuzzi Bunz, Happy Heiny's Bumkins are always good sellers. Other
guaranteed to sell quickly are SOS's from Christensen Creations,
Drybees, Granny's Ark and Kissaluvs, just to name a few. Then
whatever is "hyena" at the
time.
DJ:
Are there times during the year when sales peak or fall short?
TFB:
About the
end of summer moms are buying more school supplies than diapers. It
picks up a little after school starts but then Christmas shopping
starts and it's relatively slow until tax season.
DJ:
Any ideas on how to make sure that cloth
diapers stay in good enough shape to be resold after use?
TFB:
Never use
bleach! Wash fairly often so they don't mildew. Close all aplix,
velcro and touchtape tabs so they don't stick to other diapers. But
the best way to keep them in good condition...have a LARGE stash. :)
DJ:
Do you have any hints or tips for
selling used cloth diapers?
TFB:
Pictures
pictures pictures! It's hard to sell when the buyer can't view the
product. Try to not list them for what they cost new. That tends to
irritate possible customers. If possible, include shipping in the
listed price so customers know upfront their total.
DJ:
Why might someone consider consigning
their used diapers, perhaps at
That Fat Baby, instead of taking another route like ebay?
TFB:
Consigning
saves the seller so much time and headache. All the picture taking,
cleaning the diapers up, describing the diapers, uploading all the
information to a website, answering emails, dealing with "tough"
customers, keeping track of inventory, advertising and mailing the
packages are just a few things a seller deals with. One transaction
can last weeks. Just hand them over to someone else, sit back and
wait for the money to come in.
